Aberfan Disaster // Guardian

A Guardian commission took me to Aberfan to photograph Gaynor Madgwick, who is a survivor of the ‘Aberfan Disaster’. On the last day of school on 21st October 1966, a tip from the local colliery collapsed. Waste surged down the mountain, engulfing the Pantglas Primary School and several houses, killing 144 people including 116 children.

Gaynor lost a brother and a sister that day. Following the disaster, she was hospitalised for 3 month. She described her parents devastation, from losing their only son and a daughter, as well as her own subsequent struggles with survivor guilt and PTSD. Following the traumatic event, Gaynor outlined how many individuals and the community as a whole were affected. “There was a strong sense of resilience and community support, but also mass grief. Everybody was grieving in some way – they’d lost a brother, sister, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece. So we were all grieving.”

The full article can be found here https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/jul/10/a-noise-like-thunder-then-my-classroom-went-black-how-i-lost-my-brother-sister-and-stability-to-the-aberfan-disaster